December 22, 2024

My 85th Birthday

On December 22nd we celebrated my 85th Birthday! My son Pantelis, who has cooking as a hobby with a lot of skill, experience and imagination prepared the dinner for our Tucson family and relatives. Growing up as kids we never celebrated birthdays. Our parents were continuously busy trying to put food on the table for their 7 children. Beyond that, in Cyprus birthdays were not considered as important as Name Days. Growing up and creating our families, we started celebrating the birthdays of our kids. Moving to America where “Happy Birthdays is a must”we got accustomed to the American way of doing things.

Having the celebratory dinner it comes to mind my mother’s birthday party! When she turned 80 in 1992 we, her children decided to surprise her by organizing her first birthday party in our family house in Troulloi, where she continued to live after my father’s death. All brothers and sisters with their kids, our aunts, my mothers sisters and cousins, gathered in the “high rise” family house, built in 1935 with dirt material and which is standing until now resisting the passage of time. All of us worked, each one in their own specialty, preparing a memorable birthday party, which we remember until now with emotions, bringing in mind the love which existed and continues to exist within the family. Especially we remember my Mother’s captivating smile, joy and satisfaction, when she was blowing the 8 candles symbolizing the 8 decades of her life. I used to ask her if she was afraid of dying and her response was that death is inevitable but she wanted to be around her children and grandchildren a little longer, thinking and feeling that by being around, she was protecting us with her prayers.

Turning 85 is considered a milestone. I never expected to live as long, taking into consideration all the health problems I went through, especially after the age 70, such as quadruple open heart surgery, strokes, colon cancer, skin cancer, pericardiocentesis, pacemaker, aortic valve replacement and many other ailments. The birthday party was attended by our granddaughters Nikki and Zoi with their families, our granddaughter Kristina who was visiting us from Bozeman Montana, to celebrate with us Christmas, my nephew Andreas with his family, and our son Pantelis and his wife Cleo, who were hosting the dinner!

My granddaughters Nikki, Zoi and Kristina each volunteered to do the birthday cake but finally Nikki convinced them to allow her to take care of the cake! After the wonderful dinner and socialization the time came for the epitome of the party, the blowing of candles and the singing of Happy Birthday. I asked to have by my sides Jaxon, Ayla, Stella, Sophia and Demetrios, the five of the six great grandchildren. Unfortunately my granddaughter Maria and her daughter Jeraldine live in Boise ID and were unable to make it. These moments of having all the loved ones standing around you, wishing you Happy Birthday, is one of those unforgettable occasions which remain forever!

They say that after the age of 80 one year counts for five and it appears to be true. I started systematically walking every day for more than 30 years on the average 5 miles a day and now day by day I feel the aging effect reducing my stamina and my walk to 3 and who knows day after day for less!

Aging and its consequences are inevitable! Many people haven’t had the opportunity of aging, dying young. Life is a gift from God. It’s up to us to make it count. We come to this world with nothing and we leave the world with nothing! During our short time on this planet we try to acquire as many things as possible. Some of us are fortunate enough to succeed, some others manage to over succeed amassing mythical fortunes and others remain poor and needy! Some try honest means and some others use deception and diabolical means, taking advantage of their fellow citizens!

Going through these last years gives us the opportunity for an introspection and self examination. Growing up and reaching the 4th quarter of the human lifespan makes us wiser with a different core of values. Things which were very important and fundamental, through our lives are viewed from a different perspective. Still we continue to love and care for our children, grant children and great grandchildren for which we were blessed to have, hold and spoil, it brings to mind the unavoidable with all its consequences.

Yiota and I got married on July 28, 1963. We have been married for 61+ years and will continue to be together until the time comes for the inevitable. We have been blessed with two very successful children, four wonderful granddaughters and 6 great grandchildren! Spending time with the little ones makes us feel younger and rejuvenated. They ask their parents to take them to Pappous and Yiayia. When they come they take Pappous hand, guiding him directly to the chocolates and other kid’s favorites, which Yiayia provides in abundance. The house is full of toys, quite a few educational, keeping them busy. They abandon the toys and run to the table when they smell yiayias tasty French fries.

Today's Christmas celebrated by more than 2 billion people all over the world. It is a day of Joyce, togetherness, love and compassion especially for all those unfortunate people who don’t have the luxury and means to participate in the greatest and most glorious event after the Resurrection, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. God who is the personification of Love sent his only Son down to earth to manifest his love to the human kind, his own creation. He came down to earth not having the luxury of being born in a warm house with all the amenities, but in a cave using the manger as a crib and the breathing of animals to warm up. He came down to earth during the most difficult times, when paganism and the polytheistic religions were enjoying the zenith of their existence. He came down to earth like any one of us, in a human flesh, taught, performed miracles and was treated like a criminal, being crucified. The crucifixion was followed by his glorious resurrection!

The main core of Christianity is love. Apostle Paul in the first letter to Corinthians describes love as above all virtues: “ Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests. It is not quick tempered. It does not brood over injury. It does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth”. Christ during the three years of his ministry spoke many times about the power of love, especially the loving of our enemies. Love is the healing of the soul. Replacing hate with love Is more beneficial for the hater than the hated.

I would like to repeat the hymn of the Orthodox Church of having a Christian, painless, shameless, peaceful end and a good apology to God about my sinful life on earth. Nobody is sinless except our Lord Jesus Christ. The most important virtue is to recognise our wrongdoings, hurting other people, sincerely apologising and asking forgiveness. By doing this, a sensible and conscious person does not carry the feeling of guilt.